The instructor asked for questions, and the OP provided one, based on his previous (valid) training. The instructor took offense at being questioned, refused to demonstrate the technique, and then hit the student. Even if the OP were in the wrong, that is out of line. If I'm at a BJJ class, and I'm being shown a technique I believe to be dangerous, illegal in competition or unwise on the street, I'm free to ask about it. It happens all the time. "What if I..." questions are answered either with a demonstration, a counter, or an admission of fallibility of technique. That's what quality instruction looks like.

I taught briefly at a karate school (they wanted their black belts to get exposure to other styles), and during my first class, I said "any questions?" and someone belted out "NO SIR!" I had to stop things and explain that me saying "any questions?" was indeed just what it sounded like, and not a veiled demand that people toe the line.

Yes, if the instructor asks for questions, and a student asks a valid question (one of which might be "why the **** are you grabbing the blade?") then quality instruction requires a valid answer.

See, your example doesn't work CP because YOU changed the environment and made it okay.

Yes, IMO, it would be disrespectful to question an instructor publicly when you KNOW he is a shithead and has dumbass rules. You know how stupid traditional arts can be with etiquette. Heck, you just posted one of the classic "SIR YES SIR, I WILL WILLINGLY DRINK THE KOOL-AIDE SIR" stories. Yes, you PAY for instruction, you are entitled to a certain level of expectation and instruction. Yet, I give you PERMISSION to use my facilities under my rules. Don't like it leave. Which is what he did. It doesn't make me right or better, but it is "my school" and people can freely *cough* mysfit *cough* drink the Kool-aide with no disruptions from "you."

See, your example doesn't work CP because YOU changed the environment and made it okay.

Fair enough - I was assuming the instructor asking for questions meant it as such, which is indeed not always the case. Or, the instructor might only want questions about the technique itself ("is your hand thumb up, or thumb down at Point X") rather than more broad-ranging questions ("is that technique wise, when I could do this other technique instead?").

To the OP, did students generally ask questions when provided the opportunity? And if so, was the general range of your question outside that which was normally asked?

Oh I agree with your point. It's just in my experience that assinine TMAers mean "Do you need to see it again" when asking if there are any questions. His two explanations and the current complaining of Ms. Appeal to authority makes me feel it is one of those schools.

Made this account just because I stumbled upon this post, and wanted to add some input.

I studied under this system for 3 1/2 years, and hold a 1st degree brown belt in it. (Its been like 4 years since I've trained due to me being in the Military now). My uncle owned a studio underneath these people for a long time, and I trained under him.

What you have described here is absolutely TRUE for these people. Zach is an arrogant little **** made-so by his father. Master Pearl is a VERY good martial artist, but his arrogance is nothing to look past.

Zach was basically GIVEN his black belt. In fact, my uncle was one of the instructors DURING his black belt test. (My uncle holds a 5th degree black belt and was the 2nd highest ranked under master pearl) At the end of the test, when master pearl pulled all the instructors in, he asked who they thought should pass, and not pass. My uncle is the ONLY one who stood up and said that Zack shouldn't pass, because my uncle...has balls. No one else would say anything bad about the head masters son. Master pearls wife was handed a black belt (3rd degree I believe) with no test or anything. She just showed up with it one day. (My aunt is also a 3rd degree who had to test for hers, and was VERY pissed). Anyways, back to Zacks initial black belt test. According to my uncle, Zack was pacing back and forth in the back of the room too tired to do anything within the first 15 minutes of the (8 hour) test. He is a disgrace to martial arts.

My Uncle continually told me to be ready to spar this kid, because that he may put me up against him one day to prove a point. (This isn't meaning to brag, but I could beat this kids ass. I'm pretty sure some of our 5 year old yellow belts could too)

Master Pearl used to also judge sparring at his dojo in Salem, where he would put people against Zack. Any time the other person would get the best of Zack, Master Pearl would tell them they are being too rough, ETC.

The last draw was when we had our last tournament while being a part of USSK. Our Dojo had a VERY talented 2nd degree black belt, who pretty much ALWAYS took 1st places in the black belt events at the end of the tournament. He stood out above EVERY other black belt there. He would OBVIOUSLY win sparring, and everyone watching, knew it. There were 4 corner judges, and master pearl in the middle as the main judge. The corner judges were to confirm what points they saw when the head master called "up" because he saw a point. Brian (the 2nd degree) had already taken first place trophies that day, so master pearl wanted the Salem DOJO to have the sparring trophy. So he OBVIOUSLY geared the match so that brian lost. To the point of the crowd boo'ing. He would call up, and all 4 corner judges would say that they saw Brian score a point, and then he would just wave it off and say that he didn't like it, and it was too messy. This happened 3 or 4 times to Brian. (The match only goes to 3 points!)

After this happened, my Uncle had had enough and broke off and created his own system. Got rid of the attrocious 8 point blocking system, and got rid of a lot of other stuff that had nothing to do with self defense, or the art.

I could go on and on about how fucked up that family is. But its just that, that family. I met a lot of very nice, and talented martial artists in that system. If you can get past their BS, there is quite a bit of take away.

Most people know, especially in N.E. that anything associated with Villari is McDojo and a complete waste of time. Unless of course you want to shell out money so you can claim you have a blackbelt in a year...use the search function noob! Damn I always wanted to say that. Noob joke aside, check this site out thoroughly before running into another McDojo. If you want a good school I recommend any run by Ashida Kim, he has a lot of respect on Bullshido. Look it up ;-)

Gee, you should start your own dojo since you know so much. I trained under Master Pearlswig when he was in San Diego and I happen to think he is very good. It sounds like no dojo is good enough for you. Good luck to you in your study of the marital arts, my friend.

Hello, my name is Shawn. I'm currently a Brown 1st in this system under Master Robert Pearlswig. Yes, I said Master. He is not a Grand Master. Fred Vilarri is a Grand Master. I have studied under Master Pearl, Mister Zack, and other highly qualified instructors for 7 years now. I find it amazing that you can dissect a knife defense after only a few weeks of training. These moves and defenses take thousands of repetitions to become useful. But hey, you seem to have all the answers. You cant hand a person a guitar, give them one lesson, and expect Joe Satriani speed, accuracy, and smoothness. Karate and other martial arts are no different. As to Master Pearl striking you when you called him out in front of the class, well... a palm is fortunate for you. iv'e seen our black belts fight full on contact and i can tell you first hand, our system works. if you really want to see, just ask. im certain you will get the answers you need. Lastly, Don't talk smack about my Master and his family when you are the one who entered our Dojo with a closed mind and a bad attitude. Enjoy your journey from school to school for that is all your life will amount to until you change your attitude and empty your cup. this is the only post i will make here. Flame on!